Author
Topic: Blue Bay LBE - in Baltimore MD (Read 9185 times)

scott123

I have to admit, these are interesting observations that, in all of the LBE thread, appear to have never been raised.

As far as the lack of secondary air producing a dangerous situation, even at full throttle, as long as you have a big enough gap at the back of the stone and a sufficiently sized vent, I don't see the secondary air dropping to a dangerous level. Still, I think it's invaluable information to be aware of the fact that if you shortchange the secondary air in any way in an LBE, you're creating a dangerous situation.

The impingement aspect is interesting. Russ, when you talk about incomplete combustion, you're really referring to smoke and soot formation and not a huge loss in heat, correct? How far from the flame should objects be to avoid impingement?

First, I have not manged to find the "main" LBE thread. I seached LBE and Little Black Egg without luck.

Impingement does not greatly reduce heat, but it does create sooty smoke. It also increases the carbon monoxide off gasses (never a good thing). How far from the flame to eliminate impingement? Objects either need to not touch the flame at all, or they need to interrupt the flame only within the base cone (like a flame deflector).

In best case scenarios, a lack of secondary air will also drastically increase CO output. In worst case scenarios, it can snuff the flame. When that happens, you're just pumping gas into an enclosed space. Very bad. You are absolutely correct that appropriate venting avoids the problem.

scott123

90 pages? Yikes. I may have to wait a bit before wading into that one. Thanks for the link.

Other than his stone choice Brian's set up is pretty representative of an LBE. The only real differences are the way people deflect the heat away from the hearth and direct the heat down onto the pizza,using a variety of air foils.

LBEs are almost always a weber and a high btu burner, but the deflection/direction usually boils down to whatever scraps people have on hand.

I have to confess I haven't used the LBE in some time. To my horror, upon opening it up, I found the bottom ashcatcher, which holds the burner, to be full of rusty scale. There was a mound of rust and debris atop the burner as well. I cleaned it out as best I could, given that all the bolts have rusted together, and there is no way to disassemble the burner itself. When I connected it and gave it some gas and tied to light it, no joy, and the propane was visibly coming out of the venturi.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm sure it's a clog, but am somewhat leery of sticking pointy things into it.

Yep, it was a clog. Mud-dauber wasps had filled up the central burner passage with their nests, eggs and larvae. A friend at work helped me get the rusted bolt holding the central ring that looks like a cogwheel. Some penetrating spray and rubber mallet whacking later, it all came apart. Then after some bottle-brush time and lots of Eeeww later, the burner was finally clean inside and out.

Made pizza for a Supermoon party across the street. Small party, 4 adults and 2 kids... only made 4 pizzas, no pics. A shame because the host went out and bought really great toppings: all the toppings needed to make the classics. Margherita, L'Atomica, Bianco, etc. It was good to get back into slinging pies after a long interruption. Got reminded of a few pertinent factors: 1. humidity adversely affects dough opening, so choose a lightly fermented low-hydration recipe if expecting moist environmental conditions. 2. Conductivity of almost any stone you can put into an LBE is going to be higher by a factor of .33 than the firebrick in a wood-fired masonry oven, so adjust your cooking temperature to 2/3 of "ideal" WFO. For my stone, a top surface (average) stone temp of 550 is perfect. Any more than that, I'd better be using Caputo. Pizzas made that night were: all-cheese for the kids (@550): very nice! Pepperoni, portabellas and hot peppers @ 650 (charred, but tasted good) Sicilian in a cast iron skillet @ 525 for 6 minutes: ham + pepperoni, shiitakes, fontina & mozz, drizzled olive oil (belly-bustin addictively tasty) and then made a last Sicilian with just cheese and garlic to leave for next-day leftovers.

Crust and char. The two major factors to making a perfect pit ham. The crust is a product of the liquid layer surrounding the meat coming in contact with sustained dry heat. Your basic chemistry rules apply. Remember that the carmelization rate of sugar is tempered by addition of fat, which is another way of saying that you are basically looking at a GIANT HUNK OF BACON.﻿

Now let's talk about char. Using the little magnifier thingy in your browser, zoom right in. Take a look at the strata revealed in the edge of the top cut. From the outside going in, the range is from "BLACKENED BACON, through GUMMY COATING, to SMOKED HAM".﻿

And here we see the product of the grilling process, after 3 hours of slow cooking and then a nice soaking bath in my homemade barbecue sauce.﻿

Now that the char is wet, it won't powder off or make your mouth feel like you are gnawing on a charcoal briquette.﻿ Even under the layer of sauce, it has a little crisp to it- as much as blackened bacon does. In comparison, the center of the slice is meltingly tender.